.22 Hi Power Chrono Session

Guy Miner

Master Loader
Apr 6, 2006
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Took the wonderful 100+ year old Savage 99 to the range today and tested the three different kinds of .22 Hi Power ammo I had on hand:

Sellier & Bellot 70 gr soft point = 2622 fps

Imperial (Canadian) 70 gr soft point = 2705 fps

Norma 71 gr soft point = 2561 fps

It sure is a nice shooting little rifle. I thoroughly enjoy shooting this nice old Savage. It will never win any rifle accuracy awards, but it handles great and shoots softly. Very nice old rifle. Glad it's in my hands.

eqgZe31l.jpg


I'll get around to running some handloads over the chronograph some other day.

Guy
 
It is a delight to shoot older rifles. They are often not as accurate as newer models, but they did account for their share of game in years gone by. Neat report, Guy. I'm intrigued that the Norma ammo did not produce as high velocity as either the S&B or the Imperial.
 
The Norma surprised me as well Mike. Norma ammo has a reputation for being loaded a bit on the warm side. I'm sure no commercial ammo-maker is loading the old 22 Hi Power at all warm.

Also, I didn't do any formal accuracy testing. Just shot from standing, across the chronograph. All of the rounds impacted in the same group at 20 yards. Nicely clumped together.

Guy
 
Guy,

Love to see you took the old girl out and shot it.
Gotta love old Savage 99's.

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That's a pretty cool rifle and cartridge Guy.
Glad to hear that you got to take it out for a test drive.

JD338
 
Guy when I had mine in 308Win I read somewhere that the forearm pressure could be adjusted to get them to shoot better. I would pay a visit to the Savage shooters forum and see what they suggest. If I remember right I placed a thin brass washer on the forearm screw between the barrel and forearm to free float the barrel. The washer may have been some left over tuning weights I had for tuning arrow broad heads ,minor mods can be done with out affecting value or appearance. I sold mine after someone offered me more then I thought it was worth. You can also give it a better trigger pull by lightly polishing the contact surfaces using polishing compound and a polishing wheel on a dremmil tool.
 
I think it's got more to do with the old sights on the rifle and the old eyes in my head... :grin:

Even with that peep sight, I'm only "kinda good" with this old rifle. I'll see if the two of us can get along better with the target. Right now, we're pretty much just scaring the bullseye, not actually hitting it all that regularly... :mrgreen:

Guy
 
longrangehunter":24rn1vjw said:
Guy Miner":24rn1vjw said:
Right now, we're pretty much just scaring the bullseye, not actually hitting it all that regularly... :mrgreen:

Guy
Now That's Funny!

Thanks! I'm just rolling with the punches with this rifle. Turns out I can get some factory ammo. Turns out I have found, and can get more, bullets for handloading. Those are good things.

Turns out it's legal here in Washington for cougar, as well as for coyotes! Cool.

Most of us, including me, have some real "tackdrivers" in our rifle collections. This isn't one! :grin: At least not for me. It sure is cool though, and there is no way I'd ever have it drilled & tapped for a scope.

If it turns out to be a 50 or 100 yard rifle for me, that's fine. Will remind me of my days hunting with a traditional muzzle loader. I never shot a deer over 30 or 40 yards with that rifle.

Am really looking forward to carrying this 100+ year old rifle afield. It's been a long time since it's been used for that purpose, 50+ years that I know of.

Guy
 
It's too bad that the .22 Savage Hi Power wasn't better in the accuracy department.

That's more than likely why it's not as popular as it had been.

It's fun to use the old style rifles in hunting situations, though.

I'm a traditional muzzleloader hunter as well.

Enjoy all you can with your rifle Guy!
They don't make them like that anymore.

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HAWKEYESATX":1nrmyrqr said:
It's too bad that the .22 Savage Hi Power wasn't better in the accuracy department.

That's more than likely why it's not as popular as it had been.

It's fun to use the old style rifles in hunting situations, though.

I'm a traditional muzzleloader hunter as well.

Enjoy all you can with your rifle Guy!
They don't make them like that anymore.

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I don't know anything about the 22 High Power. My guess would be that just like there are "inherently accurate" calibers that some times don't shoot in a given rifle, there are "typically inaccurate" calibers that will shoot lights out. Experimenting to find out is half the fun. I'll betcha Guy can find the right recipe...or have a good time trying! CL
 
Cloverleaf,

The major difference between the .22 Hi Power and other .22 cal rounds is the .22 Hi Power uses an odd size .22, it's .227 or .228 in diameter bullet. The other .22 's that are prevalent now use a .224 diameter bullet.
There are only 2 bullet makers that make the .227 or .228 bullet, and they don't have a plethora of bullets to choose from, unfortunately. Hornady makes their Interlock in .227, weighing 70 grs. The other bullet maker is outside the U.S. I believe.
It's a good thing Sellier&Bellot manufacture ammunition for it. Otherwise I think it would have gone the way of the Do-do here in the States.
It seems to be fairly popular in Europe, and seems to be a decent small deer killer there.
Getting powder and cases isn't an issue, it's just coming up and finding those odd sized bullets that can drive you mad sometimes.

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HAWKEYESATX":1spml7e9 said:
Cloverleaf,

The major difference between the .22 Hi Power and other .22 cal rounds is the .22 Hi Power uses an odd size .22, it's .227 or .228 in diameter bullet. The other .22 's that are prevalent now use a .224 diameter bullet.
There are only 2 bullet makers that make the .227 or .228 bullet, and they don't have a plethora of bullets to choose from, unfortunately. Hornady makes their Interlock in .227, weighing 70 grs. The other bullet maker is outside the U.S. I believe.
It's a good thing Sellier&Bellot manufacture ammunition for it. Otherwise I think it would have gone the way of the Do-do here in the States.
It seems to be fairly popular in Europe, and seems to be a decent small deer killer there.
Getting powder and cases isn't an issue, it's just coming up and finding those odd sized bullets that can drive you mad sometimes.

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Thanjs , I see....Does Lyman or some one make a bullet mold in that size? Casting bullets dosent sound like fun to me but some do... S'pose one could rebarrel to a hornet or something, but Im betting that's not in the cards.
 
Cloverleaf - I've been able to track down 300 of the .228" Speer bullets.

Also found a couple of outfits selling current-production .228" jacketed soft points, and a place that makes cast bullets for the .22 Hi Power.

Am good to go now!

Guy
 
Good deal....looking forward to seeing that nice Savage laying over a coyote. That would be fun! CL
 
cloverleaf":2cix1djo said:
Good deal....looking forward to seeing that nice Savage laying over a coyote. That would be fun! CL
As am I!

That's Awesome you found some bullets, jacketed and lead for your old girl Guy!

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Guy,
That's a nice original rifle, bet if it could talk ???? The 22 HP was Nicknamed " the little imp" back when it was introduced . An old trapper here in town had one for over 65 years that God only knows how many
Foxes, Beaver and Otter he shot with it besides feeding his family with deer & Moose meat. I remember going over to his place one time to borrow some trap dye, And laying on the woodpile, were 8 Ruffed Grouse, all missing their heads...... However when I asked him about the guns accuracy, he simply said " it shoots good enough for me"
You have a lovely old Savage there Guy. I used to hunt with one just like it, for years in 250/3000 and it was deadly on big Whitetails if shot placement was correct, nice to carry and fast to shoot. I did make a strange observation from your picture.
Your rifle appears to have the rear sight still in place ?? , So I am assuming your using IT ???? You probably already know this:
But when the Savage factory installed a folding peep sight, the standard was to installed a two leaf folding rear
Sight which was 'not' used for shooting, it's purpose was to check your peep sight was still lined up correctly. (Or backup if you sheared off the peep sight) Then the rear sight folded over; and all shooting was done with just the peep and front sight............. since your eyes and mine are the same age, I would bet you; that knocking that rear sight out of there; would enhance your shooting
significantly in a couple of ways, much faster target accusation, and much Easier for your " old eyes" to only have to focus on just the front bead, and the target. (y) ( Plus rear sight won't be covering up most of the coyote !)
When I see a 99 come thru the door at the gunshop, with rear sight still on it and a tang sight as well, I know it was added " aftermarket" as the factory always shipped them if they were ordered with a tang sight with the " folding rear"
sight" . Most gunsmiths around here simply put a blank in them or find a folding rear sight to get around the problem of " 3 things for eye to focus on "
Just food for thought ? And I am guessing, your likely aware of all this anyway.
Here is what came on them for a rear sight when factory set up.IMG_1505.JPG
Anyway trying to be helpful, and not critical in anyway Guy :grin:
 
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